Dan Rather, dogged plaintiff

Dan Rather, dogged plaintiff
The ex-CBS newsman is paying a high price to clear his name over a discredited 2004 report on Bush's National Guard record.

Dan Rather

Dan Rather in his office in Manhattan, NY on August 7. (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

By Matea Gold

August 16, 2009



Reporting from New York - On a recent rainy summer afternoon, a familiar figure sat in the second row of a musty Manhattan courtroom, his head tilted expectantly as he listened to the judge. It was the latest hearing in the matter of Dan Rather vs. CBS Corp., and the plaintiff, as usual, was monitoring it in person.

"Their strategy is to string it out, wear me out, suck the will from me, and make it so painful on the pocketbook that I want to give up," Rather said of the network where he worked for nearly half a century. "Well, I have a lot of flaws and vulnerabilities, but I don't think anybody who knows me would say that there's any give-up in me."

Nearly two years after suing CBS for how it handled the aftermath of its controversial report about George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, the veteran anchor is still avidly engaged in the fight. In legal terms, the case is about breach of contract and fraud.

But to Rather, 77, the battle serves a much grander and more valiant end -- a counterpunch against corporate bullying of the press, "the red beating heart of democracy." The suit's outcome could ultimately determine his journalistic legacy: that of a champion of the truth, no matter the cost, or of a diminished newsman who let an egregious error slip by.

The personal stakes were underscored last month when the iconic CBS anchor Walter Cronkite died, prompting a torrent of gushing accolades. Colleagues said it pains Rather that he will be remembered in more complicated terms.

"I think it was hard for him to sit there listening to the eulogies for Walter Cronkite as the most trusted man in America, knowing he would never have that," said a former CBS employee who left the network in the fallout over the Bush story.

Rather is financing his lawsuit alone, at significant expense. But perhaps more dear has been the personal price. After working for 44 years at CBS, 24 of those as the face of the network, he is now persona non grata.

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http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-rather16-2009aug16,0,3488523.story

"persona non grata" with them is a badge of honor. Hang tough Dan Rather..there are millions of people who want the truth on this lawsuit.

Considering the way he covered all his bases on the memo story and considering all the White House pressure that was put on CBS to fire him, I think he's got a decent case.

He's got the kind of quiet anger that is not going to give up, go away, settle out of court, or kiss anybody's ass.

Had he not chosen to "clear his name" he probably could have made a new name for himself at another news dept. by now.

Nice robe judge. (ahem)-fool-(ahem)

:patriot:

And a good role model. I wish half of the Journalists on Tv were half as good as Dan. I still cant quite believe what happened to him, afaik the document has yet to be proved a fake and Bush was strangely quite on his service. The fact that CBS wanted to commission a panel with Rush Limbaugh on it to investigate the matter, well crap on a crutch. I can only come to the conclusion that the CBS management were on drugs at the time.

oh and btw if staff at Foxnoise had to resign every time they made a mistake, there would be no one left at the station to run their propaganda.

It is kinda weird the way they have one expectation of others and another lower one for themselves.

and the full moon shines down upon the corn that should have been harvested a week ago as fast as the familiy eats up a farmer's casserole cooked up by granny in the calico dress.

(Sorry, it's extra-late to try to make up Dan Ratherisms. I miss them.)

When Rather went down, the line fell. As ugly as it was, what happened ushered in an accelerated development of internet news to fill the credibility gap, so to speak. A venue with much more solid roots than it otherwise might not have had as quickly. From there, if integrity is a material thing you have to pay to get back, your probably not the guy who lost it in the first place.

If pursuing what ever remedy he deems due is what makes him feel whole, or more immaculately significant in the almanac of storytellers, that's up to him, I guess. He has nothing to prove to me. I, for one, always saw him as both and am grateful for his hungry candor.